A.Priest:A priest is one who is duly authorizes
to minister in sacred things, particularly to offer sacrifices at the altar, and
who acts as mediator between men and God (ISBE, p. 2439).

B.The first priests in the
Bible were the Patriarchs, the head of the family.They were the spiritual “go-between” for
their family members (i.e., Job, Job 1:5).

C.Two specific priests are
named prior to the establishment of the Aaronic
priesthood.

1.Melchizedek (Gen.
14:18).

2.Jethro, priest of Midian,
Moses’ father-in-law (Exo. 18:1-2).

D.When the Law of Moses was
instituted, the tribe of Levi was selected as the priestly tribe (Num.
3:5-9).However, only the sons of
Aaron ministered in the priestly office (Exo. 28:1;
40:15-16).

And take thou
unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of
Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office, even Aaron, Nadab
and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.

E.The Melchizedekian
priesthood.

1.The Aaronic priesthood
prevailed until Jesus died on Calvary.

2.At that time, Jesus became
the High Priest of a new priesthood, a priesthood after the order of Melchisedek
(Heb. 5:6, 10; 6:20; 7:1-8:5, esp. Heb. 7:12-17.

For the
priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also in the
law.For he of whom these things
are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave atten-dance at the
altar.For it is evident that our
Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning
priesthood.And it is yet far more
evident:for that after the
similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, who is made, not after
the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.For he testifieth, Thou art a priest
forever after the order of Melchisekec.

3.Within this new
priesthood

a.Jesus is the High Priest (Heb. 3:1).

b.Every Christian is a priest of God.

1)I Peter 2:5.

Ye also, as
lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up
spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

2)I
Peter 2:9.

But ye are a
chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation, a peculiar
people…

3)Revelation
1:6.

And hath made us
kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever
and ever.Amen.

F.As priests of God, it is
imperative that we understand and carry out our responsibilities.

1.In this lesson, we hope do
assist us in this endeavor.

2.Since the Aaronic priesthood
of the OT was a type of this spiritual priesthood, we will look at their duties
and obligations and make application to us as priests of
God.

I.PRIESTS OFFER SACRIFICES
UNTO GOD.

A.ISBE:“Nothing is clearer in Scripture than
this priestly function.”

B.The first five chapters of
Leviticus discuss five primary offerings.

1.In each of these offerings,
we see the presence of the priest.In fact, one of the key phrases found in these chapters is:“And he shall bring them unto the
priest.”

2.See Hebrews
10:11.

And every priest
standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which
can never take away sins.

C.As priests of God,
Christians are called upon to offer sacrifices unto God.

1.These are not the animal and
grain sacrifices required in the Old Covenant.

2.These are spiritual
sacrifices.They are four-fold in
number:

a.The living sacrifice of our bodies (Rom.
12:1).

I beseech you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service.

1)Becoming a living sacrifice involves a complete surrender unto
God.

2)We must first bow our will to God.Romans 6:16 refers to this as “yielding” ourselves to
righteousness.

3)The submission of the will will come out into visibility and actually in
the deeds of life, of which the body is the organ and arm.

4)Quote:Alexander
Maclaren.

“…the body, the instrument
of our activities, should be a living sacrifice to God.Link all its actions with Him; let there be
conscious reference to Him in all thatI do.Let foot and hand and eye and brain work for Him, and by Him, and in
consciousness of His presence; suppress where necessary, direct always,
appetitesand passions, and make the
body the instrument of the surrendered spirit.And then, in the measure in which we can
do so, the greatest cleft and discord in human life will be filled, and body,
soul, and spirit will harmonize and make one music of praise to
God.

“Ah!Brethren, these bad
principles have teeth to bite very close into

our daily lives. How many of us, young and old, have ‘fleshly lusts which
war

against the soul’?How many
of you younger men have no heart for higher,

purer, nobler things,
because the animal in you is strong!How many of you find that the day’s activities blunt you to God!How many of us are weakened still under
the great antagonism of the flesh lusting against the spirit, so that we cannot
do the things that we would!Sensuality, indulgence in animal propensities, yielding to the clamant
voices of the beast that is within us -these things wreck many a soul; and some of those that are listening to
me now.Let the man govern and
coerce the animal, and let God govern the man.‘I beseech you that you yield your
bodies a living sacrifice.’” (Expositions of Holy
Scripture,
Maclaren, Vol. 16, pp. 95-96).

b.The sacrifice of praise (Heb. 13:15).

By him therefore
let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of
our lips giving thanks to him name.

1)This praise should be done stedfastly in the corporate
assembly.

2)It should be done in our daily lives in the form of prayer (I Thess.
5:17) and songs to God (James 5:13).

3)Psalm 50:23a.

Whoso offereth
praise glorifieth me…

c.The sacrifice of help to men (Heb. 13:16).

But to do good
and to communicate forget not:for
with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

1)True philanthropy has its roots in true religion.The service of man is the service of God
(James 1:27).

Pure religion
and undefiled before God and the Father is this,To visit the fatherless and widows in
their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the
world.

2)“Do not talk about being the
priests of the Most High God unless you are doing the priestly office of
representing God to men, and carrying to them the blessings that they need.Your service to God is worthless unless
it is followed by diligent, fraternal, wise, self-sacrificing service to men”
(Ibid., p. 99).

d.The sacrifice of death.

1)Not all will be called upon to make this sacrifice, but if we must, we
must.

2)Paul had to make it (II Tim. 4:6).

For I am now
ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at
hand.

3)NOTE:This is not dying for doing something
evil, but it involves dying for the name of Jesus Christ.

CONCLUSION

A.Priests of God have other
responsibilities.We will cover
these in another lesson.

B.This one obligation alone,
that is, to offer spiritual sacrifices to God involves a broad range of
Christian behavior.

1.Daily
living.

2.Worship.

3.Benevolence.

4.Death.

C.Being faithful in these
duties will bring us near to God and will keep us always with
Him.